I just watched the High Shoulder video. First off thanks for the video, around here it really got us talking. Half of the shooters would not even consider it but if you look at the anatomy pics you can’t deny the validity!
On Elk would you recommend the same shot? Also do you have a link the Anatomy pics you used? Also do they do that same look for Elk and other game?
Hey David!
I licensed the photos to use in that video but I don’t have a license to distribute them. Sorry!
My son did a high shoulder shot on an elk last year and it was super lethal. Dropped immediately. My other son attempted the same and he didn’t recover the elk.
I have more to study on elk vitals so I don’t have a firm opinion, but it seems that on elk there would be higher risk of high shoulder not working because of the bigger gap between lung/vitals and the spine. My understanding is there’s a no-man’s land.
my story from yesterday deer hunting. I saw a forked horn WT in N ID at 60 yds. full rut going on. It was 330 PM. Sunset here is 415. The clearing he was in was pretty small. I thought high shoulder shot but at that range I was not sure how low to hold so as not to shoot over him. So I shot in usual spot behind the shoulder. Shooting my Encore 300 WM with a barnes 165 gr. One shot and he ran into the thick reprod. No blood - not a drop. About 25 yds found a piece of bone, but still no blood. And now dark in the thicket of lodgepoles. Two friends came out and we finally found blood another 50 yds from the bone chip. Pitch black by now. Eye level is all tree branches so you have to stoop down to see under them. Found him another 25 yds from the blood trail. So this forky ran 100 yds after being hammered through both lungs and tennis ball sized holes in rib cage. I am glad we did not have to leave it out overnight. A high shoulder shot would have been great but I did not have the confidence to take it. Need to practice shooting closer as well as long range.
Good info. Incredible how tough they can be sometimes!
Hi Guys,
Whitetail hunting in Missouri, shooting from a tree stand on private property. I went for the high shoulder shot,153 yards, Impact was a couple inches behind the high shoulder and a little high BUT, the 168 gain Hornady Black .308 severed the spinal cord and dropped the Doe in her tracks check out the pictures. I would say in reality it was very lucky. a little lower it would have been a clean pass though with no vitals. too much higher and it would have been clean miss. Jim, thanks for all the tips.
Congrats on dropping the doe! Always helpful to see pics of others’ shots.
People keep telling me you lose lots of meat with the high shoulder shot. I really don’t get that at all. Seems minimal to me. The worst meat loss is when someone intends to shoot behind the shoulder and accidentally puts it a few inches to the side and you run a bullet straight through both front quarters.
None of the back strap was damaged and and very little meat was lost. about 50 lbs of meat harvested. Again it was a very lucky shot one inch lower and it would have missed the spine. Happy thanksgiving to you and your family and all the patron’s of back fire,
Greg
